This is a chapter of Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics by Blanche Winder.
One of the handsomest, cleverest, and bravest princes of those wonderful days was called Theseus. His father, who was a great king, was obliged to leave his little son to be brought up entirely by the queen, while he himself went away to rule over his kingdom of Athens. But, before he started, he lifted a big rock and placed his sword and sandals beneath it. Then he told the queen that, as soon as Theseus was big and strong enough to raise the stone, he must take the sword in his hand, fasten the sandals on his feet, and set off to join his royal father at the court in the city.
Well, little Theseus grew up, and one day his mother led him to the stone and asked him if he thought he could lift it. Easily the young prince raised the big rock — and there lay the sword and sandals! Delighted at her son’s strength, the queen told him why they had been left there, and to whom they belonged. So Theseus fastened the sword to his side, the sandals on his feet, and set off immediately, as his father had commanded.
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He had all sorts of adventures on the way and began to find out that he was both stronger and cleverer than even the giants he met in the mountains, who did their best to kill him. However, Theseus killed them instead and went on, stepping as bravely and proudly as a young stag over the hills. When he reached Athens, he was welcomed with great joy by his father and took his place at court as the king’s only son and heir.
A short time after he had arrived at the fine city, he heard, one morning, people sobbing and crying in the street below his window. When he asked what was the matter, he was told that this was the saddest day in the year for the people of Athens.
In a distant island lived a wicked king who had once conquered them in battle, and, as the result of his victory, they were obliged every year to send him a present of seven fair maidens and seven handsome youths. If these beautiful boys and girls had been meant for slaves, it would have been sad enough, but they were meant for something much, much worse! The enemy king kept a horrible monster in the island, called the Minotaur, which was half a man and half a wild, fierce bull. It lived on human beings, and the youths and maidens were given to this terrible creature to eat!
Theseus stood up, squared his shoulders, and lifted high his proud, young head. Here was an adventure after his own heart! He remembered the giants he had killed when they tried to bar his way to Athens. How much finer would it be to go with the seven youths and seven maidens to the distant island, and to slay the Minotaur!
Girding on his sword, he strode into his father’s presence and announced what he meant to do. In vain he was told that such an idea was madness: the Minotaur would kill and eat him as if he were a little mouse in the jaws of a lion. Theseus only laughed at the fears of his father and the courtiers, bade them goodbye, and set off in a big black-sailed vessel with the weeping, trembling maidens and youths.
They reached the island after some days and were taken at once into the presence of the wicked king. By his side stood the sweetest princess Theseus had ever seen in his life. She looked sadly at the bright-haired boys and girls who were to meet so dreadful a fate. Her eyes filled with tears; and, as her lids closed to hide the drops, Theseus thought they were as pretty as white rose petals folding over dew. Her face, too, was like a flower in the dark mass of her hair. It was no wonder he fell in love with her.
Her name was Ariadne — a name as soft and sweet as herself. With his glances continually turning upon her, Theseus stood out in front of his companions. Bowing courteously to the king, he made his request, which was that he should be the first victim to be thrown to the dreadful beast.
The king laughed scornfully. He had just come from the banqueting table, where he was holding a feast in memory of his victory. He told Theseus that he might certainly have his wish. Then he went back to his plates of rich meats and his goblets of sparkling wine. Theseus, however, was put in prison for the night, in case he should change his mind and try to run away.
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The sun sank and the bright stars came out in the sky, while Theseus sat alone in the dark prison. Then, among the shadows, all at once he saw the dim figure of sweet Ariadne, who had stolen from the palace and persuaded the prison guards to let her pass. Whispering to him to keep very still, she gave him a sharp sword and a ball of string. The sword was a magical weapon and was the only sword in the world that could kill the Minotaur. But what was the use of the ball of string?
Well, you must know that the Minotaur was so dangerous that it had to have the strongest den that was ever made in the world. This den was called the Labyrinth, and it was formed of hundreds of passages carved in the rocks, which ran in and out of each other and crisscrossed and wound about, far worse than any puzzle. It had been planned and arranged by a very clever architect, who had been helped by his son, Icarus.
The wicked king, determined that so clever an architect must remain in the island, would not give him a ship in which to sail away. But the architect collected all the feathers he could find that had belonged to the great mountain birds, and, fastening them together with wax, made wings for himself and his son, Icarus. Then, fitting one pair to the young man’s shoulders, he told him to fly up, out of the valley where they stood, into the blue sky overhead. He added that, in a minute or two, when he had fitted on his own wings, he would follow.
Up sprang Icarus, like a lark, and soon found himself winging his way through the air. But he was so pleased with his accomplishment that he forgot his wings were only fastened together with wax and flew too near the sun. The heat melted the wax, and down, down, down fell poor Icarus, into the sea, where the sea nymphs found his body and sang sad songs about him for many a day afterward. But his father, who was older and wiser, did not forget how easily wax melted, and, keeping well away from the sun, flew home in safety.
Theseus, however, had to go into the Labyrinth without any wings, not even wings fastened together with wax. At dawn next day, the guards came to fetch him and led him to the entrance of this strange, deep den. And now you have guessed the reason for Ariadne’s gift of the ball of twine! The brave young prince carefully fastened one end to the entrance of the maze, and then plunged boldly into the narrow passages, unwinding the string as he went!
On and on marched the hero, sword in one hand, string in the other. Presently he heard strange growlings in the distance, low and deep. If you have ever heard a very angry bull roar deep in its throat, that would be just the sort of sound made by the Minotaur. Heaps of bones lay all around, too, for the monster only ate the nicest portions of its victims. Then, blocking up the whole passage, Theseus caught sight of a great dark form, with horns on its head and hair on its neck, and with angry red eyes — a form that stood upright as if it had the legs of a man. With a loud bellow, it sprang upon the prince. And Theseus nearly fell with the shock, though he met it with the point of his magical sword.
What a fight he had, in that deep, dark den, with the horrible Minotaur! The passages echoed from end to end with roars and trampling. But at last, Theseus triumphed. Deep into the heart of the great beast went Ariadne’s sword. The Minotaur gave a worse bellow than ever, sank down in its blood, and died.
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Off, then, went Theseus, hurrying down the rocky corridors, following the string with which he had marked his way. How glad he was to leave the dark shadows of the Labyrinth, and to be out once more in the sunshine. Away to the beach he hastened, where pretty Ariadne had joined the youths and maidens in the ship with the black sails. Springing on board, Theseus made the sailors pull up the anchor and head the vessel to the wind. And so, with songs of joy and shouts of triumph, they all set off home for Athens, to give the good news to their own king.
Yet Theseus, though he had fallen so deeply in love with Ariadne, never married her after all. A dream came flying to him from the dark cave decked with poppies, where all dreams lived in those days, and told him that Ariadne was to be the bride of one of the Shining People themselves. When the prince woke up and remembered what the dream had whispered in his ear, he no longer dared to think of Ariadne as his wife. One day, therefore, he left her fast asleep on an island; and who do you think came to her and kissed away her tears when she opened her eyes and found herself alone?
Why, none other than Bacchus himself, who had sailed that way after his adventure with the pirates, which you have already heard related. He and his merry friends landed at the island, where they often held their banquets; and they were dancing, laughing, and singing across the hilltops when they suddenly caught sight of poor, lost, weeping Ariadne. Bacchus was so charming to her, and told her so much about his carriage drawn by wild beasts and his beautiful home among the dewy vines, that, by and by, she forgot Theseus and allowed herself to be quite comforted by this gay and handsome Immortal, who was, after all, a fairy prince, instead of a mere human prince of Athens.
So they were married, very grandly indeed, and the bridegroom gave the bride a crown made of seven real stars, finer than the finest tiara any human being could have presented to her. They loved each other so deeply and faithfully that Zeus turned Ariadne into an Immortal, while her crown was taken and hung up in the sky. And there it hangs to this day.
As for Theseus, he got safely home again, but a sad thing happened on the way. He had promised his father that, if he succeeded in killing the Minotaur, he would change his black sails into white. As his ship neared his own country, however, he was so busy thinking of his fight with the monster, and wondering if Ariadne would be happy among the Shining People, that he forgot all about the sails! The king was watching from the cliffs, and, when he saw the ship come over the water like a black-winged bird of ill omen, he made sure his son was dead and, in his sorrow, threw himself into the sea.
Theseus was dreadfully grieved at being made king of Athens in this sad fashion. He tried to make up for it in every way and ruled so well and wisely that people for generations after spoke of his brave deeds, his kingly wisdom, and his kindness to all who asked for his protection.